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Important Member Alert: Kmart Data Breach

First Financial has been notified that some of our members’ Debit and Credit Cards used at Kmart between September 3, 2016 and April 30, 2017 may be at risk.

Gareth Glynne, Senior Vice President of Kmart – released the following statement about the data breach: “We recently became aware Kmart was a victim of a security incident involving unauthorized credit card activity after certain customer purchases at some of our stores. We immediately launched a thorough investigation and engaged leading IT security experts to review our systems and secure the affected part of our network. Our investigation to date indicates our Kmart store payment data systems were infected with a form of malicious code (similar to a computer virus) that was undetectable by current anti-virus systems. Once aware of the new malicious code, we quickly removed it and contained the event. We are confident that our customers can safely use their credit and debit cards in our retail stores. Based on the forensic investigation, NO PERSONAL identifying information – including names, addresses, social security numbers, birth dates and email addresses – was obtained by those criminally responsible. However, we believe certain credit card numbers have been compromised. All Kmart stores were EMV “Chip and Pin” technology enabled during the time that the breach occurred, and we believe the exposure to cardholder data that can be used to create counterfeit cards is limited. There is no evidence that kmart.com or Sears customers were impacted nor that debit PIN numbers were compromised.”

If you visited Kmart during this time period and used a First Financial card, we urge you to monitor your First Financial account. If you would like, please visit a branch location to replace your debit card, or contact our Member Relationship Center at 732.312.1500 to have a new Debit Card ordered. If you used a First Financial credit card, please call 866.820.3808 to receive a replacement card.

Enroll your First Financial Debit/Credit Cards in Visa Purchase Alerts – you’ll get an email each time your Debit Card is used over an amount you set, when your card is used outside the country, or when your card is used to make a purchase online or over the phone. Credit Cardholders also have the additional option of adding a text alert, this can be set-up in Online Banking under your Credit Card account (select the Communications tab and then Visa Transaction Alerts).

As always, First Financial continues to monitor our member accounts for suspicious activity. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please give us a call at 732.312.1500 or email us at info@firstffcu.com.